Country Fried ANYTHING

Updated on August 6, 2012

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5 stars from 4 ratings of Chicken Fried

Chicken Fried....

Nothing says southern like Chicken Fried. Anything, I mean ANYTHING can be batter fried. There are variations to what you put in the batter if you want a State Fair Style fried Twinkie or some fresh caught catfish, but those aren't true Chicken Fried. Chicken Fried, or Country Fried, is a basic combination of flour, egg whites, milk and whatever creative mix of seasonings you can come up with. Here's the simple steps to make the BEST CHICKEN FRIED ANYTHING right at home.

How to Chicken Fry!

You need a square or oblong flat casserole dish or Tupperware bowl. It should be big enough that at least one piece of your chosen meat will lay flat in the dish. It should not be large as you will need the ingredients to pool in it.

Take 3 to 5 eggs and deyoke. I deyoke the egg by cracking the egg in half and then slowly transferring the yolk over the dish from one half to the other until all of the egg white has fallen into the dish and there is nothing but the yoke left in the egg shell. Trash the yoke with the shell. Do this for all 3 to 5 eggs and put egg whites into the dish.

Pour milk into the dish so that it is about twice as much as the egg whites. Mix thoroughly with a fork until there is a fairly even consistency.

To prepare the batter mixture, you will need a large bowl, paper or plastic bag or freezer bag. I prefer to use a freezer bag, but any of these will do. A bowl can become a bit messy, but is effective. I will refer to a bag for the rest of the instructions.

Pour about 2 cups or more of flour into the bag. Leave enough room in the bag that at least one piece of meat will fit without overflowing.

Add seasonings as desired to the flour. You will need more seasoning than you would expect. At least a tablespoon of pepper, for example, will be needed for effective taste. Some people prefer to season batter with nothing but salt and pepper. Depending on the meat and my mood, I add seasonings such as cayenne, chili powder, fajita seasonings, even habanero flakes to give it some flair. I use seasoned salt, meat tenderizers, chicken seasonings. Just use your own imagination. But it's difficult to over season a batter. The amount of flour will need a lot of seasoning. More is better.

Close and thoroughly shake the bag, beating the bottom of the bag to thoroughly mix the seasonings into the flour. (If you are using a bowl, mix with a spoon until thoroughly mixed.) You should still be able to see seasonings mixed into the flour mixture. If you cannot, add more seasoning and remix.

Prepare oil in a large skillet or deep fryer. It doesn't really matter which you use. You can use a "Fry Daddy" type fryer with a basket or a skillet with at least enough oil to cover 3/4 of the selected meat when dropped in. Skillet should be large enough to drop in at least two or three pieces of the meat at a time to save yourself some time and energy! Heat the oil to a high temperature. The oil in a skillet is ready when it has a heavy reaction to drop of water in the oil or when a drop of flour begins to immediately cook. Actual temperature will vary depending on the meat you are using. Chicken will need to cook longer than pork or beef so the temperature should be a little lower to allow for longer cooking without burning. (About 350 to 400 degrees depending on the meat)

Take a piece of desired meat in the egg and milk dish and roll the meat so that the mixture covers the entire piece. If egg white clumps on the meat, mix the egg/milk again with a fork and dip again.

Place the meat into the flour mixture bag. Close the bag and shake, beating the bottom so that the meat falls into the middle of the bag.

And here's the part that makes your Chicken Fry truly the best: Do it again. Most people only coat the meat one time and do not get a good full thick batter. Take the already battered piece out of the bag, coat it again with egg/milk mixture and then redip into the flour. I have done this up to three times with certain meats depending on how thick I want the batter to be.

Place the meat directly from the flour bag into the oil. It should immediately create a slightly browned batter over the meat. If you are using a deep fryer, then just wait until the batter is golden brown and there are no bloods or juices leaking from the meat.
If you are using a skillet, you will need to turn the meat. WAIT until the batter on the bottom of the meat is somewhat crisp or the batter will break and fall away from the meat. Turn carefully with tongs completely to the other side.

You can add as many pieces of meat as will fit in the skillet one at a time using the same process. If using a deep fryer, add all meat to the basket before dropping into the oil.

Pull the meat out, place it on a napkin/paper towel/hand towel covered plate to soak in excess oil and be adored for your awesome chicken frying skills!

TIP: If your batter falls away from the meat or you have some holes in your batter, you can hand pinch some flour onto the meat while it is in the skillet.

TIP: If your flour mixture starts to get "gummy", just add more flour and seasonings.

TIP: Be careful when stacking meats in a deep fryer or skillet because batter will stick together and cause the batter to separate from one or more pieces of the meat that are stacked. This doesn't always happen, but it can. The temperature of the oil will usually determine whether it will stick together.

Tip: You can do this with Buffalo Wings and then immediately dip them into sauces. See my other hubs for upcoming recipes for homemade Wing/Fried Chicken Sauces for EVERY taste.